Racially Aggravated Offences

Dan Perry

[1][FOI #23645 email]

24^h November 2009

Dear Mr Perry,

Freedom of Information Request - Reference No: 20090603

Thank you for your request for information in relation to:

1) How many arrests have been made as a result of racially
aggravated offences in each of the last five years (2004 to 2009)?

2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many arrests
were made for each offence?

3) How many of these arrests resulted in convictions in court?

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances South Yorkshire Police may be unable to
achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a
revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

Please Note *** Responses are published on South Yorkshire Police
disclosure log, which can be found at the following link:
http://www.southyorks.police.uk/foi/disc...

If you have any enquiries please contact the Information Compliance Unit
on the numbers below.

Yours faithfully,

Philip Crick
Information Compliance Clerk
South Yorkshire Police
Information Compliance Unit
Professional Standards Department
Unit 20 Sheffield 35A Business Park
Churchill Way
Sheffield
S35 2PY
South Yorkshire Police provides you the right to request a re-examination
of your case under its review procedure (copy enclosed). If you decide to
request such a review and having followed the Constabulary***s full
process you are still dissatisfied, then you have the right to direct your
comments to Information Commissioner who will give it consideration.

Dan Perry To FOI requests at South
<[FOI #23645 email]> Yorkshire Police
<[South Yorkshire Police request email]>
23/11/2009 23:39 cc
Subject Freedom of Information
request - Racially
Aggravated Offences

Dear Freedom of Information Officer,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I
am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

1) How many arrests have been made as a result of racially
aggravated offences in each of the last five years (2004 to 2009)?

2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many arrests
were made for each offence?

3) How many of these arrests resulted in convictions in court?

I would be interested in any information held by your organisation
regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify
particular files or documents and that it is the department***s
responsibility to provide the information I require.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to
charge excessive fees.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing/by email that
you have received this request. I look forward to your response
within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.

Regards,

Dan Perry

show quoted sections

10^th December 2009

Mr D. Perry

[FOI #23645 email]

Dear Mr Perry

Freedom of Information Request - Reference No: 20090603

Thank you for your request in relation to.

REQUEST

1) How many arrests have been made as a result of racially
aggravated offences in each of the last five years (2004 to 2009)?

2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many arrests
were made for each offence?

3) How many of these arrests resulted in convictions in court?

RESPONSE

1)

The Custody Record of Persons arrested and detained at South Yorkshire
Police Stations are maintained in two sections. The first section is
created using a computerised system and contains various personal details,
details of arresting officers etc, details of rights administered and a
brief description of the reason for arrest. The second part of the Custody
Record is maintained in hand written form and contains, amongst other
matters, precise details of the evidence and allegations against the
detainee. The computerised section does not differentiate between those
offences aggravated by racial motivation and those aggravated by religious
motivation. As a result the two separate forms of the offences are
recorded under one heading as follows: -

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED ASSAULT WITHOUT | 16 | 41 | 42 | 34 | 16 | 11 |
| INJURY | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY / RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL DAMAGE - | 2 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| TO DWELLINGS | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY / RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL DAMAGE - | 2 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 4 |
| OTHER BUILDINGS | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY / RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL DAMAGE - | 3 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 7 |
| TO VEHICLES | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY / RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL DAMAGE - | 3 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 22 | 10 |
| OTHER | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED HARASSMENT | 17 | 29 | 1 | | | |
| (EXCLUDES OFFENCES UNDER 9B) | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED INFLICTING | | | | | | |
| GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM WITHOUT | 1 | 3 | | | | |
| INTENT (EXCLUDES LESS | | | | | | |
| SERIOUS WOUNDING UNDER 8J) | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED ACTUAL BODILY | 22 | 33 | | | | |
| HARM AND OTHER INJURY | | | | | | |
| (EXCLUDES GBH UNDER 8H) | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY | | | | | | |
| AGGRAVATED PUBLIC FEAR ALARM | 125 | 130 | | | | |
| OR DISTRESS | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY AGGRAVATED OTHER | | | | | | |
| WOUNDINGS, ASSAULTS (C&D ACT | | 16 | 67 | 57 | 52 | 46 |
| 1998 S29) | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RACIALLY AGGRAVATED | | | | | | |
| HARASSMENT (C&D ACT 1998 | | 49 | 104 | 87 | 56 | 18 |
| SECS 31,32) | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| | | | | | | |
|------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
| Total | 191 | 334 | 256 | 224 | 175 | 103 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

2)

Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged
to supply the information you have requested. Section 17 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 requires South Yorkshire Police, when refusing to
provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide
you the applicant with a notice which:

(a) states that fact;
(b) specifies the exemption in question and;
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption applies.

The following exemption applies to the disclosure of the information:

Section 12 *** Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate
limit

In order to locate, retrieve and extract the information you have
requested it would be necessary to carry out a physical review of each of
the 1283 records detailed in the above table. It would be necessary to
first identify each of the above records and locate them within the filing
systems held at each of the custody suites within the Force area. A
physical review of the hand written sections of each Custody Record would
be required in order to retrieve the information. It would then be
necessary to make a written copy or resume of each of the relevant
sections of the Custody Records in order to satisfactorily extract the
information. In order to achieve this it would be necessary for one member
of staff to travel to each of the Custody Suites in the Force area or a
member of staff at each of the Custody Suites to be extracted from his or
her core duties. In either case a conservative estimate of the time
necessary to locate, retrieve and extract the information for each Custody
Record would be in the region of 30 to 45 minutes.

The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and
Fees) Regulations 2004 provide that the cost limit for non central
government public authorities is **450. This must be calculated at the
rate of **25 per hour, providing an effective time limit of 18 hours.

3)

Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged
to supply the information you have requested. Section 17 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 requires South Yorkshire Police, when refusing to
provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide
you the applicant with a notice which:

(a) states that fact;
(b) specifies the exemption in question and;
(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption applies.

The following exemption applies to the disclosure of the information:

Section 12 *** Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate
limit

South Yorkshire Police does not employ a system that easily correlates
details of those persons arrested and detained with the subsequent
conviction of the offence for which they were arrested. In order to
locate, retrieve and extract the information you have requested it would
be necessary to obtain the personal details of those persons subject of
the 1283 Custody Records mentioned above. It would then be necessary to
conduct searches of other computerised systems in order to establish
whether each of those persons had been charged with a relevant offence. It
would then be necessary to carry out searches of both computerised and
paper records to establish whether such persons had subsequently been
convicted of a relevant offence.

The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and
Fees) Regulations 2004 provide that the cost limit for non central
government public authorities is **450. This must be calculated at the
rate of **25 per hour, providing an effective time limit of 18 hours.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request a review by following the advice contained in the
separate notice attached to this correspondence:

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 08456 306060 or 01625 545745
Website: www.ico.gov.uk
There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely

Philip Crick
Information Compliance Clerk
South Yorkshire Police
Information Compliance Unit
Professional Standards Department
Unit 20 Sheffield 35A Business Park
Churchill Way
Sheffield
S35 2PY

Email - [South Yorkshire Police request email]

Please note that police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely
required to provide information and statistics to government bodies and
the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for
recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used
locally in capturing the data. It should be noted that for these reasons
this forces response to your questions should not be used for the
comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

South Yorkshire Police provides you the right to request a re-examination
of your case under its review procedure (copy enclosed). If you decide to
request such a review and having followed the Constabulary***s full
process you are still dissatisfied, then you have the right to direct your
comments to the Information Commissioner who will give it consideration.

The South Yorkshire Police in complying with their statutory duty under
sections 1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the
enclosed information will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright owner of the enclosed
information will continue to be protected by law. Applications for the
copyright owner***s written permission to reproduce any part of the
attached information should be addressed to The Force Solicitor, South
Yorkshire Police, Police Headquarters, Snig Hill, Sheffield, S3 8LY.

Dan Perry To FOI requests at South
<[FOI #23645 email]> Yorkshire Police
<[South Yorkshire Police request email]>
23/11/2009 23:39 cc
Subject Freedom of Information
request - Racially
Aggravated Offences

Dear Freedom of Information Officer,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I
am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

1) How many arrests have been made as a result of racially
aggravated offences in each of the last five years (2004 to 2009)?

2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many arrests
were made for each offence?

3) How many of these arrests resulted in convictions in court?

I would be interested in any information held by your organisation
regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify
particular files or documents and that it is the department***s
responsibility to provide the information I require.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to
charge excessive fees.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing/by email that
you have received this request. I look forward to your response
within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.

Regards,

Dan Perry

show quoted sections